


From this slumber shall you wake?

by ThatwasJustaDream



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, M/M, Pre-Slash, True Love's Kiss, shameless romantic angst, steve!emotional whumpage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 03:45:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5852749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatwasJustaDream/pseuds/ThatwasJustaDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny's the one who went charging into a warehouse full of iffy suspects alone this time, with no backup - and he's paid for it dearly. The potential cure? It's left Steve vulnerable, with his heart on the line.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Spell

“Commander McGarrett, did you hear me? Is ….that _okay_ with you?”

“Hmmmm?” Steve’s brain was a few seconds behind in registering her words, distracted by the sight of Danny – out cold, his skin grey. He was horribly still in the hospital bed. They’d each seen each other flat out like this before, but somehow it was.... different. “Yes. It’s okay.”

He gave Chin a nod toward the door. Although he was visibly reluctant to leave, Chin nodded back – heading out in search of Kono, who was on her way to Queen’s Medical at double speed having heard Danny was there.

The two of them would apparently need to wait, to learn more about what Investigator Burkhart from the HPD special unit had discovered about the strange coma Danny was enveloped in.

“I’m sorry to put you on the spot like that, asking him to go…” she said, once Chin was gone.

“Just tell me,” Steve cut to the chase. “What did you learn from them? How do we save him, and …how much time to we have to get it done?”

~*~

_This was …crap. Magical thinking. The stuff of fantasy and children’s books and…no. Just…no. It couldn’t be…it wasn’t true. Just because she was saying it, didn’t make it true._

“Isn’t there a medical cure?” Steve asked. “Isn’t there something we can _give_ him…”

“The head of the coven was very specific about the remedy for her spell,” Agent Burkhart explained. “She said they had no time to consider options when Danny burst in their warehouse, intent on breaking up what he mistakenly thought was a drug den….”

She hadn’t wanted to kill him, they only wanted him disabled - and so she’d gone with her instincts. Most people do; Steve knew that much. Couldn’t even blame her, really.

“I don’t know why you’re telling _me_ this,” Steve heard himself saying, felt his face warming with the blush that was creeping up from his neck to his face. “What does it have to do with me?”

“ _Sir,_ " she said the one word, her tone so full of ‘you’re the one wasting our time, now.’ “I’ve been working with your team less than a day, but it’s very clear in the way that you look at him. How you’re looking at him now….”

“It has to be mutual?” Steve asked. “If it’s not mutual…it won’t work?”

“That’s correct.”

“If I try this and…he doesn’t wake up?”

“Do your instincts say he won’t?” She asked. “You strike me as someone who’s very decisive. Not the kind of man who bothers mooning in a situation where there’s no hope.”

“Just tell me…what if he doesn’t?”

“Then I’m mistaken. And you’ll have a day, maybe two to find his _actual_ true love or… Detective Williams will never wake up.”


	2. A familiar weight

“You know what, Danno? It’s a damn good thing your fate doesn’t hinge on me believing any of this…” 

Steve had dragged a chair to Danny’s bedside once she left; needed a minute to pull himself together. 

“I don’t. Believe in spells. I’m not even sure I believe in love. The romantic kind. I mean…I _get_ love for family and friends, of course, but… I’ve never fallen _in_ love before. Except, maybe when I met you. In the garage… it was like I knew you already, like part of me was asking ‘who the hell is this guy?’ and part of me knew the answer. And then… that day with the bomb? When they defused it, all I wanted was to hold you; to feel you whole and alive in my arms. I guess … I’ve felt that way about you ever since.”

Talking to himself. Steve looked at the face, stone-like in front of him on the bed, like a statue of Danny and realized he was talking to himself. 

He shivered. 

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Their first kiss.

“Enough about me. Right?” Steve stood, closing the step between the chair and the bed and leaning in over him, a thumb on Danny’s forehead, fingers behind it sliding into his hair, palm cupping his head. “Here goes….”

Cool. Firm, cool and unyielding were Danny’s lips. Again, like kissing a statue. But Steve tried; pressed harder, felt them soften slightly from the warmth of his own mouth, his breath. He pulled back and went in one more time; brushing left and right and ending it with a soft smack; chaste, due to the situation, Danny being out cold, but… with intent. 

With his whole heart.

Then he stood back, a hand finding Danny’s to hold it and he waited and….

Nothing.

Danny was as motionless as ever; no pink in those cheeks – his softly pressed-apart lips the only sign of anything remotely different in him compared with the last dozen hours. 

“Oh…..hell,” Steve sank into the chair; elbows finding his knees, head in his hands. “That answers that, doesn’t it?”

A familiar weight settled over him; landed on his back and enveloped him in sorrow. 

He should have known it was all in his head. Of course it was. All these years. 

Steve fought back the tears that wanted to come; breathed through and around them and forced them down. Willed them away.

“Now what?” he said. “Now…what do I do?”

There was a clock on the wall – an old, analogue one with hands. It had been there the whole time, but he hadn’t noticed it. The ticking it made was loud and insistent; measuring out the seconds that made up the dwindling hours they had left to save Danny.

It didn’t matter, what Danny didn’t feel for him; all that mattered was figuring this out. 

Steve got up and headed for the door.


	3. Eyes Wide Open

“Ohh…..h _ellll_ lp! Shi….I can’t….. _breeeeathe_. I can’t …breathe….”

It wouldn’t be right to say that Danny shouted it; he didn’t have enough air in him to shout. But it was a panicked, urgent gasping that made Steve turn back from the door. His own heart was pounding with adrenaline and worry and…relief. Waves of relief.

“It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay, just try to slow it down. Slow your breathing,” Steve leaned in over him for the second time in a minute, a hand absently tracing back over Danny’s hair, another on his chest making light circles, trying to comfort him. “Like that, right, Danny, hold it in and….perfect…you’re doing great.”

Danny was hyperventilating; his body recovering from the shock of the spell leaving him. His eyes were overly bright, his cheeks and neck red from his lungs’ labored work, sweat rolling down his temples and making his chest and arms shine where the hospital gown wasn’t covering them.

“What the ….he.. _lll_ …happened?” Danny was shaking but starting to calm down, was winning the war for oxygenation; Steve could hear it in his voice and was thankful.

“Later. Rest, okay? You’re gonna be fine.”

It was a stretch, assuring him of that. But Steve believed it. He had to.

“I was in the office, and got a call. I tried to get you on the phone, but…” Danny said, and Steve could see it in his eyes, Danny digging back for more memories. “There was a warehouse. What was _in_ that place?”

“Nothing you want to run into again,” Steve said, and now he was both wiping his eyes and laughing deep and low. “I guess…it doesn’t always happen exactly like in the movies, does it? All neat and pretty? In real life… it takes some time, maybe.”

“What are you talking about? And why are you …crying on me?” Danny flicked at something wet tracing down his cheek and his neck. “You’re laughing _at_ me…and you’re crying _on_ me. What’s the matter with you?”

“I’m not laughing, I’m…relieved.” Steve realized the hand that had been soothing Danny’s chest was now holding Danny’s and he let it go, stepping back, blindly finding the chair with his backside. “I’m ….very glad you woke up. That’s all.” 

_~*~_

“So…. that was it?” Kono was sitting on a bench along the wall in the hospital hallway, in jeans and the leather bomber jacket she’d grabbed when she got the call and hit her motorcycle to better fight the mid-day traffic. “He woke up just like that, all on his own?” 

Chin had gone to help question the suspects. She and Steve were alone while a doctor checked Danny’s vitals. 

“Yeah,” Steve said. “It must have been heat exhaustion or… it’s been a rough couple of weeks. Right? And he never drinks enough water.” 

“Sure,” Kono said. “That sounds ….plausible. Chin will go for it, maybe. To your face.” 

“Kono….” 

“Why did she need you alone in the room with him?” Kono shifted, crossing her combat-booted legs gracefully, sitting forward in a pose of contemplation. “Why is it he only woke up after you spent some time alone with him in the room?” 

“Please,” Steve was out of evasive maneuvers; all that was left was to ask for mercy. “Let it go? Don’t say anything to him.” 

“All right, boss,” She said. “But maybe…you could look at this as an opportunity?” 

“I’ll give that some thought,” Steve said. “I’ll keep it in mind.” 

_~*~_

“All I’m saying,” Danny shifted the bag with their lunch from one arm to the other as they left the deli. “Is that if evolution meant for humans to spend that much time in water…we’d have skin that doesn’t prune up.” 

“Sure,” Steve said. “I can see your point. It’s deeply misinformed, scientifically… but I can see it. Sort of.” 

He hadn’t said anything to Danny, of course; he was just happy for things to be back to normal with Danny’s health visibly stronger every passing work week. 

“It is not misinformed; it’s perceptive. It’s irrefutable, and…” 

“Commander McGarrett, hello…” a voice interrupted them. A lilting, lady-voice, which Steve soon connected with a familiar face that looked particularly happy to see them; a face that sent his heart falling down into his stomach. “And Detective Williams. Nice to _meet_ you.” 

“Well, hello,” Danny shifted the bag again, looking confused. “I’m a little lost, miss…” 

“Investigator Burkhart,” Steve jumped in to make introductions, but barely slowed his pace toward Danny’s car. “She’s the HPD person who helped with your case. You know? Last month, in the warehouse?” 

“Oh, of course,” Danny got a hand on Steve’s arm, and it was amazing how he could convey it without a word – ‘slow down, you beast, why are you being rude to her?’ “I wouldn’t remember, I was pretty…..out. As you know.” 

“I heard you were on your feet that very day, and I was so glad,” she said. “I know it was a horrible thing to go through. But in a way it’s a great gift, too, isn’t it?” 

“What?” Danny’s face was a study in confusion at how passing out from heat exhaustion could be a gift. “I don’t follow you.” 

“Danny, we need to get back to HQ,” Steve tried giving Danny’s back a soft push, but Danny shrugged him off. 

“Well, of course it’s a gift; the fact that you’re walking around means it worked,” She set a hand on Steve’s arm, her opposite hand showing Steve off like a specimen on display. “True Love’s Kiss broke the spell. How many people can say that their relationship has been validated with actual magic?” 

“Um…..” Danny didn’t quite drop the bag with their lunch, but it was close. “Ex-squeeze me?” 

“Oh….” They both watched embarrassment wash over her face as Danny’s confusion and Steve’s discomfort registered with her. “I’m so…. sorry. I think I’ve put my foot in it.” 

“No,” Steve said, “More like my foot. But it’s okay.” 

The truth always came out, eventually. Steve knew that to be a fact. Sometimes, it was the only thing that held him together. Right now? It kind of sucked. 

There was a long silence as Investigator Burkhart said goodbye and they both stood there and… 

“We should get going,” Steve tried to head for Danny’s car again. 

“Steven? Stop.” 

“Danny….” 

“You told me it was a group of experts on herbal remedies in that building.” 

“Technically,” Steve shifted between feet. “That wasn’t untrue.” 

“And you _knew_. For the last three weeks…you’ve known how I feel about you. Were you ever gonna tell me?” 

“You went into that warehouse without backup,” Steve said. “All I could think was… he’s right. I’ll get him killed someday with my bad habits. They’re wearing off on him and…" 

“Bullshit! You were scared of _us_. Of trying.” Danny grabbed the bag of food again and marched back to the car. “C’mon.” 

“Where are we going?” Steve asked once their seatbelts were on. 

“Your place.” Danny was still fuming. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yes. We are going to your place, and these sandwiches are going in your fridge. They will be our slightly soggy dinner….after I take you apart in your bed. Any more questions?” 

“Hell, no.” Steve backed the car up in a hurry. 

“Wait.” 

“What?” 

“Put it back in park. I got robbed of our first kiss. I’m taking one now. Okay?” 

“Yeah. That’s okay.” 

They kissed in the Foodland parking lot in front of God and all the shopping, lunching masses until Steve wasn’t sure he was capable of the twenty minute drive home. 

“Jeez, Danny,” He said, when they came up for air. “You’re damn good at that.” 

“You have no idea….” Danny gestured for him to put it in drive again. “what I can do with this mouth.” 

Steve would have liked to argue that point, but…. maybe later. 

“Steven,” Danny said when they were halfway there, waiting on a red light. 

“Yeah?” 

“I love you.” 

“I know,” Steve asked for his hand and got it as he hit the gas again. “I know you do.” 


End file.
